BionX to the Rescue – in the Snow!

by BionX Electric Motor on February 28, 2011

I have never been so happy to have my BionX electric bike as I was yesterday. I had woken before dawn and decided to get to work before the traffic picked up. The night before the weather forecast had promised clear skies, so I set off at my usual rapid pace on my trusty BionX commuter bike.

About two miles into the ride it started to rain. Expletive! Well, I had a rain-resistant jacket on, so I wasn’t too concerned. As I pedaled on, it dawned on me that the rain was unusually cold. Downright freezing, in fact. Finally my still-sleepy brain put it together: rain + freezing = freezing rain! Double expletive! After a moment or two of hesitation I decided to push on up the hill – perhaps it was just a fleeting shower. I continued on up, feeling as if the North Pole was breathing into my face.

By the time I neared the top of the hill, serious snow had started to fall. The silence of snow quickly descended all around me. Pedestrians were wondering across the quiet street ahead of me, confident that no cars were around because it was so silent. My bell was too frozen to work, so I resorted to yelling: “Bike Coming Through!” Even going uphill, my BionX electric bike is pretty fast, and I did not want to mow anyone down – even if they were too stupid to look left and right before crossing the road. The pedestrians turned to stare at me in shock. I could just see them thinking “Look at that crazy person cycling in the snow.” As I went by them, I yelled out “The weather forecast said it was going to be clear!”

I was halfway to work, so there seemed to be no choice but to press on. Besides, my bike was handling the snow pretty well. I suspect the extra weight of the BionX electric motor kit helped to keep me firmly upright.

Even when it snows so much you can’t find your car, your BionX electric bike will just keep on trucking!

Unfortunately, I was not dressed for snow. Parts of me were getting soaked to the skin, and I was feeling very, very cold. I knew I had to get to work before hypothermia set in. But then disaster struck. Under the onslaught of being freezing cold and soaked in snow, my drive chain stopped working. I was trying to pedal, but the gears just kept slipping.

Of course, that was when my trusty BionX electric engine kicked in! Undeterred by the elements, it continued to work smoothly. The rest of the way to work was all flat, and with the help of my BionX electric motor, I cruised sedately all the way, even though I could hardly pedal at all.

I have never been so happy to get to work! I squelched in, parked the dripping bike, and had the best hot shower of my life – while thanking my lucky stars that I had been on my BionX electric bike that morning!